have 82 380sl with pealing and ugly dirt embedded in laquer or clear coat finish.
not sure if the car has been repainted but it looks from the underside that the trunk is fairly new. i suspect clear coat.
it's pealing chipping and absorbing dirt .
the unercoat of paint is perfect even where the plastic is chipping off.
tried lacquer remover, acetone, xylol, paint thinner, mineral spirits.
the only thing that partially worked is methyl-ethyl ketone but that only clean surface.
can this coating be removed without removing the paint.
the car will be repainted in the spring but it still looks ugly
help
dklein

The clearcoat on the early eighties cars was a solvent based clearcoat and is far superior IMHO to the water based clearcoat of the later cars.

The problem you are seeing is not too uncommon on this era MB, since they are now 20 years old. I have, with success, featheredged the peeling clearcoat, and then just sprayed clearcoat over it. You have to be careful not to sand through the base coat.